Like some other hyped and trumpeted schemes, the Chenab Water Supply Scheme, too, is faced with uncertainty in the matter of funding. The proposal for providing drinking water for Greater Jammu from the river Chenab was mooted in 2012 during the regime of Omar Abdullah. The scheme envisaged to supply 450 million litres per day of drinking water to Greater Jammu City. The city that has expanded manifold is usually having shortage of drinking water in one or the other sector. In order to overcome this deficit, the scheme under discussion was devised as a permanent solution to the problem. The State Government first approached the Asian Development Bank for funding but the efforts failed to yield the desired results as in the year 2013 the Asian Development Bank made it clear to the concerned authorities of J&K that in the absence of Environment Impact Study it would not be possible for it to clear the proposal for funding.
Thereafter, the planners decide in 2013 to approach Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for financial assistance. All requests for financial assistance from foreign agencies are to be routed through the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) which has examined the proposal submitted by J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) and has cleared it technically. However, before the proposal is forwarded to the JICA, clearance from the Ministry Home Affairs and External Affairs is mandatory. The situation at present is that clearance from the said two Union Ministries is yet to be obtained and only then can the proposal be taken up for discussion with JICA. How much time these two ministries will take is anybody’s guess.
Chenab Water Supply Scheme is one of the many schemes of our State that have run into financial difficulties from day one and as a result have been either abandoned fully of left half way. We fail to understand why the State Government is falling prey to the bad habit of running for cheap popularity. It brings discredit to the Government because people are always sceptical when schemes are given unnecessary media hype. Now that the State has already wasted five years in expectation, it is time that it mounts full pressure on both Union Ministries to expedite the matter and finalize the case for forwarding it to the JICA. We are not sure whether JICA will be prepared to handle our request favourably or not, but since we have waited this long we can wait more provided the Ministries of Home and External Affairs finalize the case expeditiously.
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